Ganesha Symbolises The Supreme Truth

21 August 2001, 10:18pm IST
LAKSHMI VENKATACHALAM.

There is a deeper meaning to the form of lord ganesha that can be understood when we dwell a little on the symbolism. to contemplate on the formless and transcendental essence, some of us need an idol that can be seen and worshipped. thus the idol represents an ideal, a medium for us to get in touch with our spirituality. so let's take a look at ganesha's symbolic representation in our scriptures and what they mean to us. our ancient seers or rishis discovered a basic unity or harmony underlying all of life and its forms, despite the apparent chaos. life has three stages of evolution, according to vedantic thought: birth, growth, and death the trinity, a continuous chain taking place again and again, with progress achieved in each scale of evolution. and one supreme power controls and guides this. our sages with their rich imagination, foresaw obstacles in cosmic progress, and installed the first born of shiva, the destroyer, and his consort parvathi, as the god to be propitiated, for removal of obstructions and to achieve success in any work undertaken. this god is none other than ganesha. his name is invoked before starting any new venture. he is called vighneswara, lord of obstacles. he is also called ganapati, the leader of shiva's servants or ganas; vinayaka, the supreme leader. he is the master of knowledge or vidya, and the champion of worldly achievement, avidya. according to swami chinmayananda, ganesha represents, ``the perfect wisdom of a fully-realised vedantin a follower, or student of vedanta. he is the highest and the best that has ever been given in our scriptures''. ganesha has an important position because he is invoked not only by hindus at the beginning of any work, but even the other gods in the hindu pantheon pray to him, according to the puranas. ganesha is depicted generally in a seated pose. it signifies that in him the mind and intellect are totally integrated. the entire world is at his feet, waiting for his command. the pose also resembles that first primeval cosmic sound in sanskrit om the beginning of creation itself. he has a bulky body, symbolic of the entire cosmos. this big belly symbolises space. the mastermind has to digest all experiences of life. the snake around his expansive waist is like a girdle. it symbolises energy in all forms. he has an elephant's head, symbolic of the intellectual capacity one must have to understand the supreme truth. the large ears are symbolic of the sravana or careful listening one must give one's teacher, to understand vedantic truth. not only must the student understand the concepts, he must also have the sensitivity and the discriminatory power to distinguish the mortal from the eternal, impermanence from permanence, the gross from the subtle. this is symbolised by the trunk that starts from lord ganesha's forehead. an elephant's trunk can lift a log of wood as well as a blade of grass. the two tusks on either side of the trunk are symbolic of right and wrong, good and evil. ganesha possesses the faculty of being aware of the duality of the world. but one tusk is broken. this means that as the perfect student, he has gone beyond the pairs of opposites, beyond the subjective and the objective -- to a higher plane of consciousness. the broken tusk also symbolises that nothing is too precious to be sacrificed for intellectual progress. ganesha holds in his four hands an axe, a rope, and a rosary of beads, while the last hand is held up in benediction. with the axe, he cuts off the worldly attachments of his disciples. the rope brings them nearer the path of truth. the beads remind one of the continuous pursuit of supreme knowledge that the believer should engage in. his trunk holds the sweet stuffed rice-ball modak. it is symbolic of the self that resides within us and which has to be realised by each one of us. the fourth hand blesses his believers for success and joy through life's journey. on another level, the obstacles in life subjective and objective can be surmounted and realisation attained with ganesha's blessing. the modak signifies the sweet satisfaction one gets in travelling the spiritual path. the mouse, at the feet of the lord, symbolises material desires that can destroy the good within us. though it's a small animal, it can play havoc with many things foodgrains for one. ganesha has subjugated this mouse of desire and kept it under control.